Once upon a time... Many years ago
by Atlantis1
Summary: an epilogue to my fic (now completed) "Once upon a time... not so long ago"


TITLE: ONCE UPON A TIME… MANY YEARS AGO  
RATING: R   
DISCLAIMER: Not my characters. The copyrights belong to Joss & Co.  
SUMMARY: Epilogue to "Once Upon a Time, Not So Long Ago"  
SPECIAL THANKS: My plot beta reader- cim, and my beta reader Kim  
DEDICATION: To the B/Aers. Keep the dream alive, yeah?  
  
  
  
//There's a place for us,   
Somewhere a place for us.   
Peace and quiet and open air   
Wait for us   
Somewhere.   
There's a time for us.   
Some day a time for us,   
Time together with time to spare,   
Time to look, time to care   
Some day!   
Somewhere   
We'll find a new way of living,   
We'll find a way of forgiving   
Somewhere.   
There's a place for us,   
A time and place for us.   
Hold my hand and we're half way there.   
Hold my hand and I'll take you there.   
Somehow,   
Some day,   
Somewhere.   
  
(Somewhere - From "The West Side Story")//  
  
A FEW YEARS LATER   
  
Buffy wiped the blood from her nose. The last few days had been the hardest in  
her life.  
It has been raining blood for two weeks now. When it first started Giles said it  
was one of the signs for the apocalypse. The demons seemed to be growing  
stronger. Buffy and Faith had both fought together. The battles seemed endless.   
The Hellmouth had reopened and the Master returned from hell.   
He came with all his minions. And there were a lot of them. Faith rushed to fight the Master   
But had been killed.   
Buffy couldn't even wait for the new slayer to come and back her up. She had  
to face the Master again. After an exhausting battle, he was suddenly  
beheaded... Buffy was saved by Angel. The apocalyptic rain of blood reached  
L.A as well, and the vampire and his slayer fought side by side  
again.  
Until the great fog covered everything.   
  
A sandstorm with the power of a hurricane and the vortex of a tornado pierced  
through the darkness, devouring both warriors of darkness that came from all  
corners of the earth and beyond and warriors of the light that were summoned to balance between the forces.  
Buffy heard Angel screaming her name as her hand slipped from his grip and  
they were torn apart.   
  
Buffy looked at the blood on her hand. It was a bright day, but now was the  
first time she actually got to look around at where she was. She positioned  
herself in a fighting stance, although everything was quieter than ever, you  
can never really know. She was in a desert. A desert she knew all too well.  
If Angel were still holding her he would have been dust now in the hot summer's sun.  
She looked down at her clothes, relaxing her body. Her clothes were ripped  
apart. She was bleeding from several cuts. But her heart was aching the  
most. Everyone was gone, or they were still in Sunnydale fighting... the few  
who survived. Her sister was long gone now, melted into pure energy in the  
first drop of blood from the sky. There was no time to mourn her, too many  
innocent people died and the demons kept coming. Other loved ones were lost  
in the subsequent battles. Spike... Spike decided to join the winning side. At  
the end, he was always evil. She saw one of the good warriors that came  
from England staking Spike and Drusilla as they tried to escape a fight.   
  
Buffy started walking in the sand, her feet were hurting. The horizon of the  
desert seemed endless and she didn't know which way was the right one. She  
spotted a sandy hill not far from where she was standing. Almost dehydrated,  
she reached the hill and stood proudly on the top, scanning her world. She  
felt something inside her. A familiar twitch in her stomach. She suddenly  
knew she wasn't alone.  
  
When she turned around she saw Angel emerging out of the hazy glow of the  
dust, wounded and dusty, his clothes were torn just like hers.  
'Angel' She mouthed, but her voice was unheard.   
He walked straight at her, climbing the hill of sand, and then he swept her  
into his arms. They locked their eyes on each other for a moment. Angel gave  
her a slight nod and then lowered his head and kissed her. They were kissing  
subtly at first, then they unleashed all their passion that was grazing  
under the surface... clawing its way up. Slowly they dropped into the hot,  
soft sand. Angel's body covered her and their hands entwined as they  
continued devouring each other in their burning desire.  
Without even noticing, they were both naked in each other's arms, the blood  
from their wounds mixing together. Their time together was too precious to  
waste on talking, or giving conscious time for the tearing of the remainders  
of their clothes from their bodies. They were one entity again, and that was  
all that was important.   
  
"I thought you were dead!" Buffy slammed her fist on Angel's bruised and  
naked muscular chest, long after she caught her breath again and could speak.   
He winced and raised his arm to caress her face. She felt his warm hand on her cheek.   
He took back his hand, it was covered with blood and Buffy watched as he took his   
hand and licked the blood from his palm.   
"You were human before." She suddenly annunciated. "I remember. My dreams  
were not deceiving."  
"Buffy..." He finally said. He pulled her over to him and covered her with  
his arms and body. "It wasn't real... this time," He kissed her softly  
again, his split lips warm and gentle. "This time, it is."  
"Did we win?" She asked, feeling his hot breath against hers.  
"We never will," He whispered calmly. He raised his head to look at the  
deserted nothingness they were both thrown into. "But we will never lose  
either." He finished.  
"Is there any peace for us then? Is it ever over, or just for now?"  
"It's never over, but it will be someone else's fight now." He winced again  
putting his hand on one of his many blooded wounds.  
"You're bleeding badly." Buffy touched his wound.  
"I'll be okay..." He whispered.  
"Is this our time now, Angel? Did we finally get there?" Her hand covered  
his bleeding wound, just like he tasted her own blood, she was now tasting  
his, she licked the blood off his chest. Angel grimaced and pulled her over  
to him. Their mouths met again, the sensual taste was now spiced with the  
metallic flavor of their blood.  
"Our time, my love..." He whispered and he was above her again, desperate to  
be a part of her again.   
  
Buffy opened her eyes, scared to find out it was just a dream, or worse-  
that once again she woke up alone. But this time her fear was uncalled for.  
Angel was still with her, she was planted firmly in his strong arms. And he  
was still sleeping. Buffy looked at him as he slept. His face were truly  
angelic, his hair was almost gray from the dust, it was messy and natural.  
His sleep seemed peaceful. Her eyes stopped on his chest. The piece of  
clothing she put on his chest to stop the bleeding was soaked in blood. She  
took it off and searched for another fragment of material to bandage him with. It took  
Buffy some time to remember that Angel was not a vampire anymore... She was used  
to feel the cold of his body and it didn't seem unnatural that he wasn't  
breathing.   
"Angel..." She tried to shake his body, but he didn't respond. "Angel, wake  
up..." She started crying. How could she let him bleed to death, how could  
she be such an idiot.  
"I love you..." She cried hugging his cold, lifeless body close to her. "I  
always have and always will. It was our time! It's not fair... it wasn't  
enough time!"   
  
"Buffy, Buffy... wake up, calm down..." Buffy heard someone trying to soothe  
her. She felt the strong hands on her arms. She opened her eyes, seeing  
Angel looking at her, worried.  
"Shush, Buffy, It's okay..." He whispered.   
"You're alive..." She gasped, sitting up. They were still at the sandy hill,  
but it was nighttime now. "You're here..." She touched his face. "You're  
warm."  
"It was just a bad dream, love. I'm not going anywhere."  
"It's our time now, right?" She snuggled close to his chest, his wound was  
bleeding but not so bad anymore.   
"It is, and if we die now, we'll die together. I will never leave you alone  
again."   
  
As the dawn broke forth, embracing the two lovers with new rays of light  
into the new world, Buffy held Angel's close. Together they sat on the  
hill, watching the sunrise, knowing they survived, and if they were left  
alone in this world, it didn't matter as long as they had each other. Now  
was their time, and they were going to make the most of it.  
  
"Hmmm... Interesting." The young British man hummed as he flipped through  
the book.  
"Well, how did it end?" The young teenaged girl asked him.  
"Buffy was released from her fealty. It was her reward. She was the longest  
living Slayer." The British man said.  
"And?" The girl was impatient.  
"The hellmouth was closed. But as it was prophesied, a new one opened in a  
known location."  
"Nothing about Buffy and Angel?"  
"Nothing. There's no record about her, or Angel, after the night they  
returned to Sunnydale. It's safe to assume they were together until they  
both died. It was, after all, many years ago."   
"You think they had enough time together?" The young slayer asked.  
"I think..." The watcher replied, "That for them, even just a precious  
minute with one another was just enough time."  
  
The End  



End file.
